Earthquake of magnitude 5.5 hits western Iran, about 30 injured

An earthquake hit an area in western Iran near the Iraqi
border on Sunday, injuring about 31 people, most of them lightly, the state
news agency IRNA reported.

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) initially put the
magnitude of the quake at 5.9 but revised this later to 5.5.

Iran`s emergency services spokesman Mojtaba Khaledi told
IRNA that 29 of the injured had been released after treatment following the
earthquake in Gilan Gharb in Kermanshah province.

In November, a 6.3 magnitude earthquake shook western Iran,
injuring more than 700 people, with most suffering minor wounds.

Iran sits astride major fault lines and is prone to frequent
tremors. In 2003, a 6.6 magnitude quake in southeastern Kerman province killed
31,000 people and flattened the historic city of Bam.

In the meantime, Israel announced Sunday that it had blocked
an upcoming bid by the Palestinians to gain full membership at the United
Nations — saving the U.S. from having to veto such a push if it came before
the Security Council.

It was just last month that Palestinian Foreign
Minister Riyad al-Maliki said he would seek full membership this
month to the world body.

However, Israel’s U.N. Ambassador Danny Danon started
lobbying U.N. member states and several Security Council members in recent
weeks to prevent such a push. Danon had made it clear to those with whom he
spoke that the Palestinians did not meet the conditions of full U.N.
membership, in part due to its payments to terrorists.

“We exposed the
hypocrisy of the Palestinians,” Danon said in a statement. “They continue to
pay terrorists every month and to encourage violence and incitement against
Israel; therefore, they are very far from meeting the definition of a
“peace loving” state. The [Palestinian Authority] continues to error
in its attempt to establish facts on the ground through unilateral moves while
it has not abandoned the path of terror.”

The Israeli mission said the Palestinians now understand
that the chances of the proposal passing have gone, and they are shelving the
plan to promote the status upgrade. A visit from Palestinian President Mahmoud
Abbas and al-Maliki to the United Nations is expected to take place around
the time of the Security Council’s quarterly debate on the Middle East on
January 15.

The Palestinian U.N. Mission did not immediately respond to
a request for comment from Fox News.

The Palestinians would need nine votes in favor of their
upgrade and no veto. The U.S. likely would have vetoed such a move in the
Security Council but can save it for now. It also spares the U.S. a diplomatic
dustup that it could currently do without — with a partial government shutdown
in Washington, and no replacement confirmed yet for former U.N. Ambassador
Nikki Haley.

In 2011, the last time the Palestinians tried to get full
U.N. recognition, they realized the math was not in their favor and the vote
was tabled.

Earlier this week the Security Council president for
January, Jose Singer of the Dominican Republic, told reporters he had not
received a letter from the Palestinians regarding a request for an upgrade to
their U.N. status, and that had not changed Sunday according to another senior
diplomat from the U.N. mission of the Dominican Republic who spoke to Fox News.

While the Palestinians did manage to upgrade their status at
the United Nations General Assembly in 2012 to that of non-Member Observer
State status, it seems the upcoming Abbas visit now will be to celebrate their
recent elevation to the chairmanship of the influential Group of 77 – a
bloc of 135 developing countries including nations such as Saudi Arabia, Iran,
Cuba, China and Venezuela.

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